Designer's Toolkit for Children
Guide to the creative design process, helping pupils use tools such as questioning, product analysis, sketching, modelling, CAD and evaluation to develop ideas.
First published 2012
This document considers the creative process of designing that has proved to be so rewarding for children, encouraging them to think explicitly about the tools they use during their designing and making process. It provides a guide to using and applying designing tools and prompting pupils to ask the right questions and consider both getting started with design and working out ideas under the following headings:
- Asking questions
- Looking at products
- Design criteria
- Looking for inspiration
- Exploring materials
- Sketching
- Sharing ideas
- Design specification
- 3-D modelling
- Annotated drawings
- Computer aided design
- Making a plan
- Testing and evaluating
There is also a series of questions helping teachers to focus on how they might support pupils in developing their designs.